Some heroes wear capes. Others, wear doctor coats. And the American College of Pediatricians in partnership with the Doctors Protecting Children coalition looked like Avengers this week as they stood against the evidence-based damage being done to children in gender transition protocols.
Comprised of physicians, nurses, psychotherapists, scientists, researchers, behavioral health clinicians, and other public health and policy professionals, the Doctors Protecting Children gave their declaration at a press conference on June 6th, 2024, and brought both science and common sense with them.
“This declaration was authored by the American College of Pediatricians but really it was developed from the expertise of hundred of doctors, researchers, and other healthcare workers and leaders who for years have been sounding the alarm on the harmful protocols that continue to be promoted by the medical organizations in the United States despite recent revelations from the leaked WPATH files and the recent release of the final report from the cast review,” said Dr. Jill Simons during the conference.
Their aim isn’t just to shed light on the situation, which has somehow been acceptable to a select minority due to mainstream media programming, but rather to put a stop to the harmful and often irreversible damage done to children and adolescence when undergoing hormone treatments, puberty blockers, surgeries, and other methods which have failed to produce the “intended results”.
“Gender dysphoria is a diagnosis whereas transgenderism is an ideology. The natural course of gender dysphoria is desistence by adulthood conservatively in 85% of the cases unless it is affirmed. Gender dysphoria carries with it the overwhelming probability of underlying mental health issues, adverse family dynamics, adverse childhood experiences, autism spectrum disorder, that usually predate the gender dysphoria,” Dr. Andre Van Maul stated, representing the Christian Medical and Dental Associations and American Academy of Medical Ethics in his attendance.
Despite this latest pushback against treating youth for the uncommon dysphoria, it seems the US is still playing catch up. Finland, Sweden, England, Denmark and Scotland have paused protocols after recognizing the scientific research demonstrated that social, hormonal, and surgical interventions are not just unhelpful, but are harmful. Instead, these European countries are focused on evaluating and treating the underlying and preceding mental health concerns.
As per the Doctors Protecting Children, “sex is a dimorphic, innate trait defined in relation to an organism’s biological role in reproduction. In humans, primary sex determination occurs at fertilization and is directed by a complement of sex determining genes on the X and Y chromosomes. This genetic signature is present in every nucleated somatic cell in the body and is not altered by drugs or surgical interventions.”
In other words, sex is biological first and foremost. It goes on to say, “Gender ideology, the view that sex (male and female) is inadequate and that humans need to be further categorized based on an individual’s thoughts and feelings described as “gender identity” or “gender expression”, does not accommodate the reality of these innate sex differences. This leads to the inaccurate view that children can be born in the wrong body. Gender ideology seeks to affirm thoughts, feelings and beliefs, with puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries that harm healthy bodies, rather than affirm biological reality.”
The evidence to support these statements is substantial. Often times patience is best medicine. For example, in the largest sample to date of boys clinic-referred for gender dysphoria, there was a desistance rate of 87.8%. In another study done by the University of Groninen in the Netherlands, they found that of 2772 adolescents recruited from a psychiatric clinic, 11% of participants reported gender non-contentedness. This prevalence decreased with age down to 4% with the last follow up.
Additionally, the declaration maintains that responsible informed consent is not even possible in these situations. This is due to the incredibly limited long-term follow-up studies of interventions, as well as the immature, often impulsive nature of the adolescent brain.
The list goes on and on. Not surprisingly, scientists found that “Evidence-based medical research now demonstrates there is little to no benefit from any or all suggested “gender affirming” interventions for adolescents experiencing Gender Dysphoria. Social “affirmation”, puberty blockers, masculinizing or feminizing hormones, and surgeries, individually or in combination, do not appear to improve long-term mental health of the adolescents, including suicide risk.”
Ultimately, it is difficult to accept the transgender ideology when they themselves cannot accept reality as it stands. To advertise it and often times brainwash children into the mental illness is something that we as a nation must put a stop to. Instead we need to follow legitimate medical advice and focus on the mental health issues arising in our country as a result of backward values.
To review and sign the Doctors Protecting Children, click here.